Times have changed...

My family on my mom's side, the Ware Family, has been getting together for the 4th of July weekend of over 30 years (I think we're over 30 now anyway). This year is not different... We usually get together and go camping for the weekend but every once in a while we do something different. This is not one of those years... so we're camping at our usual haunt of Somerset Beach Campground in beautiful Southern Michigan. Of the 30 years, this have been our primary location.

4th of July, 2007

When I was a much smaller than I am now, our little "family" camp only took up four campsites. One for Grandpa and Grandma, one for the Ware family, one for the Winter family, and one for the Cole family (the Lacy's were on the mission field when back then). We now have at least eight sites, maybe more! It's hard to tell since we set up a big canopy where we gather all day long and we only separate at night when we finally pull ourselves away from the campfire and head off for a few hours of sleep. Not everyone makes it every year now, but there's always room when you can, and we sometimes even have "adopted" family members join us!

4th of July, 2010

As kids, my cousins and I tore around the campground on our bikes doing the craziest things that I know look back on and wonder how none of us ended up in hospital... We use to spend hours down at the beach, fishing on the lake, and just being kids while our parents did whatever parents did back then. Now we're more apt to sit around the table to talk, put a puzzle together, play Euchre or Rook, or sit down for a good game of Scrabble. One of the new activities is chasing around then next generation making sure they don't run out into the road or crawl into the fire pit. In a few more years hopefully they'll be the ones tearing around on bikes...

4th of July, 2010

Then there's internet... yes, the internet. It started with cell phones, and now, just a few years later (our family has only used cell for a little over 10 years) we have iPhones (or a Droid, Black Berry, etc), iPads, and laptops... all connected to internet via Wifi provided by the campground. 20 years ago, the teenage me, never would have imaged that I'd be laying on my bed in my tent writing this on my laptop something that will shortly be wirelessly posted to the internet for anyone in the world to read! Of course, 20 years ago, how many people even knew what the internet was... Times have changed indeed...

4th of July, 2009

Although we have all these gadgets and gizmos that connect us to world, there's something more important going on here at Somerset Beach Campground. Some of us may sleep in tents, some in trailers, but the big thing is that we're here, together, spending quality time together making memories as a family.